Reps. Carlos Giménez and Mike Gallagher recently visited the port of Miami and U.S Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), a Florida-based military headquarters, to inspect how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influences American infrastructure and the transfer of goods through Latin America.
Giménez (R-FL) said the CCP's attempt at spying and influence in American military assets gives it priority as a national security threat. A report from Fox News said Chinese infrastructure has the capabilities to disrupt American military manufacturing as well as trade flow.
According to Fox News, Gallagher (R-WI) and Giménez learned about Chinese cargo cranes that transfer goods to the port of Miami and possibly have the ability to surveil American ports and interfere with military mobilization. Gallagher is the chair of the House Select Committee on China.
Giménez, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, the Homeland Security Committee and the new Select Committee on China, said the cargo cranes pose a threat that cannot be underestimated, according to a press release from his office.
"The Communist regime in Beijing is America’s most significant national security threat. The Communist Party of China is not a competitor, but rather an adversary that actively undermines the United States and our geostrategic interests," Giménez said in the press release. "For years, I have been warning about the need to decouple from Communist China and diversify our manufacturing capabilities to meet our critical infrastructure needs. I want to thank Chairman Mike Gallagher for his leadership, and I'm looking forward to continuing working with him to protect America from the malign influence of the CCP."
Gallagher, in the press release, also prioritized the perceived threat that China represents to the U.S.
"The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat to American sovereignty, and the visits today highlighted how the CCP seeks to compromise our critical infrastructure and weaponize its influence over our neighbors," Gallagher said, adding that both visits demonstrated a serious threat from the CCP. "We learned first-hand how Chinese-made cargo cranes now move an alarming amount of the goods Americans rely on from point A to B, providing the CCP with a tool to disrupt American trade flows and impede military mobilization," he said.
The visit to SOUTHCOM told much about the extent of CCP's influence, according to Gallagher.
"Likewise, the visit with SOUTHCOM military leaders further revealed the CCP’s targeted influence campaigns in our backyard – underscoring the CCP's determination to turn our allies and partners against us. Put differently: The Monroe Doctrine still matters, and we must push back against growing CCP influence in our own backyard," he said in the release.
After visiting SOUTHCOM, the two congressmen said they spoke with military personnel on the base who emphasized the threat the CCP possesses. Both expressed their determination to create policies to stop the "malign influence" of the CCP.
According to Fox News, Gallagher and Giménez decided to visit the port of Miami and SOUTHCOM after The Wall Street Journal reported Chinese cargo cranes were being utilized as surveillance tools.
"China’s cyber pursuits and its industry’s export of related technologies increase the threats of aggressive cyber operations against the U.S. homeland," U.S. officials said in the Fox News article. They described these tools as "capable of launching cyberattacks that could disrupt critical infrastructure services within the United States, including against oil and gas pipelines, and rail systems."
